freedom of speech. and the freedom to question. it's eleven pm here in moscow tonight russia says the alleged chemical attack near damascus is aimed at disrupting peace efforts and that any military intervention triggered solely by unconfirmed claims would violate international law. meanwhile the u.s. and its allies gear up for a possible strike on syria despite the u.n. inspectors still working to establish whether a chemical attack has taken place. so the scandal around the american surveillance leaks gains new momentum threatening to influence of temple's german election fresh revelations clearly n.s.a. even tapped into the u.s. headquarters. and from crime to despair we look at how libya is resurrected the same control methods used by the toppled regime as the country's dragged back into chaos two years after the revolution.

even for me kevin owen if you just joined us this is art international our top story russia says foreign intervention in syria would be a mistake that would further destabilize the country in the region minute news conference in light of the u.s. and its allies considering military action. says there's no proof that the assad regime used chemical weapons. from our correspondent sean thomas about the briefing . sergey lavrov was very direct in his press conference outlining key concerns about the rhetoric that the west is using in fact he says that they say that they are sure that chemical weapons have been used by the assad regime but they have not yet presented convincing evidence to support that it was assad's regime that used the chemical weapons but they keep saying that they crossed this red line the

famous red line and it's quite clear that the syrian government had neither political nor military reasons to resort to chemical weapons during when u.n. experts were working there when the regime had the upper hand on the ground and when a rusher u.s. meeting on preparing the geneva conference was to take place how exactly would the syrian government benefit from using chemical weapons in such circumstances he said that mass hysteria surrounding the syrian crisis is aimed mainly at disrupting the peace process. the new geneva two talks that were orchestrated by russia and the united states jointly and that this is just basically an attempt to derail that also using force in syria without any u.n. sanctions is a blatant violation of international law and that is something that just should not happen and lavrov went on to say is what we're witnessing now is a massive fear mongering campaign something that we have seen it before using it as an example ten years ago in iraq something that did not end well drawing the united

states into a drawn out quagmire there one thing whatever i've said it is that it's an illusion to think that regime change in syria would end of the civil war also that bombing infrastructure would simply lead to more bloodshed and actually that western strategy in the region is aimless this is what he had to say was on the part of many key players started to take sides and act based on the principle of winner takes all betting on those who they saw reese potential winners but then the winners turned into losers again this is an example of so-called ad hoc policies as opposed to logical and integrity policies you cannot for example declare war on one regime because you personally don't like the dictator in power that and be friends with a dictator in another country countries need to divert from their personal preferences and determine the main threats to the region which are terrorism and extremism and

that's what we need to talk about and agree home was just like the russian foreign minister or the syrian you're also not so long brought out of the problem fighting terrorism so what more can you tell us about well certainly in an interview with the russian newspaper bashar al assad was very critical of the west in the united states in particularly directly refuting the idea that his forces used chemical weapons against his people saying that it just doesn't make sense about the close proximity of close quarters fighting that they would basically be killing themselves if they used chemical weapons. but about this idea of military intervention from the west he said that this is something that has been on the table the entire time they just don't have the support to go through with it that's why they've been sitting on the fence and taking such a long time listen to what he had to say about that another obstacle to a military intervention is that everybody understands the syrian conflict has nothing to do with a nation's revolution and demands reforms it's terrorism in this situation whiston

leaders can't tell the citizens we're going to syria to support terrorism so bashar assad continuing to stand up to the west a very defiant and sergey lavrov in russia saying that all parties involved need to exercise caution and go through legal channels to find a solution to the problem in syria meanwhile there's already damage to syrian peace efforts the opposition's declared talks are off the table now that's despite the u.n. insisting that the work on the go see actions in geneva is in progress as what a journalist of an os two is widely covered events in syria he told me there are factions within the opposition who are willing to participate but they're being ignored. there is also very little talk to talk about the civilian and aunt nonviolent opposition who are willing to not allowed by for example the british and the u.s. to participate i mean it's one thing to say we're going to organize talks and then tell your allies but that don't come i mean that's it that shows bad faith and that is what it happening for the moment of course what is happening now is that it's

probably likely the foreign minister russian foreign minister is that some kind of creating a situation that alters the things on the ground. the russian president meantime interrupted a meeting for emergency phone call with britain's prime minister about syria but ima put in stress lack of evidence that the syrian regime was behind the attack while david cameron said there was little doubt that it sounds government was to blame earlier the u.k.'s foreign secretary refused to rule out the possibility of military intervention in the washington can fully counter britain's support sarah first reports from london. well foreign secretary william hague said this morning that the west could take military action against the assad regime without the backing or support of the united nations security council now he was speaking to b.b.c. radio four s today programme and he said that the united nations security council has not been united on syria and has not shouldered its responsibilities on syria

and on the question of whether it was possible to act without complete unity on the united nations security council he replies oh dulcie yes it is now no firm decision has been taken on what the response will be or indeed when it will be but the timetable if you like for the next couple of days is this prime minister david cameron has cut short his holiday and he'll be returning to lungs and that's it and then on wednesday he's going to be chairing the national security council meeting and it's going to be there that you'll have all the key decision makers and after that meeting on wednesday you can expect that we'll have perhaps a clearer idea of exactly what the plans will be moving forward now we're still not talking about direct intervention here so no boots on the ground in syria what is being discussed they is a more limited form of military action in the form of it's thought pinpoint tomahawk missile strikes now by no means has the political dialogue being abandoned

but that limited form of military action certainly something that is now on the table being very seriously discussed of course a huge concern is we're now meeting ever closer towards getting involved in a conflict from which there isn't a clear exit only spoke to broadcast a deal clark has long focused on covering the middle east he told us that whatever the u.n. inspectors find it will go to america or britain. we're going to see the weapons inspection teams going to this site and whatever they do the syrian government will be blamed the u.s. avoided made that quite clear william hague has made that quite clear they blame the syrian government for this whatever the evidence or lack of evidence and there is no evidence that the syrian government ordered this massacre with chemical weapons yet they're still going to blame them because they want war the u.n. team will go there they may find chemical weapons traces or they may not and if they do then of course the u.s. has said quite clearly the syrian government is the only party capable of using chemical weapons surveyed by their mind up if they don't then the syrian government will be accused of moving them so the syrian government be damned if they do and damned if they don't whatever the un inspection teams find the decision has already

been taken i think over the past few minutes john kerry's been responding to the situation in syria he reiterated that washington has got little doubt that it's the assad regime that's behind the alleged chemical attack let's go to new york. what evidence did he bring up to back up those claims that the assad regime is faulty or . well u.s. secretary of state john kerry said that first and foremost the obama administration does not believe that the syrian opposition would be capable of carrying out a chemical attack and attack with chemical weapons because he says that those chemical weapons are not in the hands of the opposition they are in the hands and protected and guarded by the syrian government and this is why the u.s. is now blaming the syrian government of carrying out an attack with chemical weapons and kerry also said that the obama administration is still considering their options on how to respond to the use of chemical weapons they made it very

clear that although there are you want investigators in damascus right now looking at this site that. u.s. president barack obama has essentially made up his mind on on who is to blame for for the attack that allegedly allegedly took place last week kerry went on to say that he believes that the syrian government will lead to agreement to grant access to u.n. investigators comes too late he said that the syrian government did not allow investigators u.n. investigators into the site of the alleged attack until five days afterwards secretary kerry also said that he believes that president obama believes there must be accountability for those who used chemical weapons in syria you know we've heard over the past year and a half to two years u.s. officials make very various statements aggressive statements against the syrian government this i have to say was a little bit different secretary kerry was very very forceful in his words it

anybody who is watching or listening would presume that the u.s. is going to possibly take some type of action as a matter of fact senator kerry also said that the u.s. has additional information about the alleged chemical attack that took place last week and that information will be provided in the days ahead so he didn't disclose everything that the you. right now while gathering intelligence but he didn't make it clear that u.s. president barack obama is going to respond to the chemical attack that allegedly took place and will hold those accountable that is behind the chemical attack we should also alleged chemical attack we should also mention that there was also a phone call that took place between u.k. prime minister david cameron and russian president vladimir putin during that conversation both leaders were talking about the alleged chemical attack the ukase leader made it clear that that he believes that syrian rebels were not behind the

alleged chemical attack that took place in syria last week and president putin according to reports said that the western countries that are have been siding with the syrian opposition along they don't have evidence of whether a chemical weapon attack has taken place or who was responsible for it and even u.n. investigators are inspecting the scene they will only confirm whether or not a chemical attack did take place they will be able to tell who was responsible for the attack but if you ask the united states they've already made up their mind they believe it's the syrian government that was responsible for the attack and it looks as though they're going to respond. so the u.s. . should wait for the u.n. findings maybe even go to live without it with american warships already converging near the water the british preparing to join the two of his roof emotional looks where their confidence comes from a blow to the syrian government for using chemical weapons and where it might lead

. united nations experts are in syria to investigate whether chemical weapons were used during the ongoing conflict finally but even before they start a senior u.s. administration official has said there is very little doubt that chemical weapons were used by the syrian regime against civilians these are the arguments we have told were given to president obama as proof that reported number of victims talkin the number explain how they see during world war two up to eighteen million people were killed what does that tell us about how they died the next argument to the american ministrations leaves them in little doubt assad attacked his own people with chemical weapons is the reported symptoms of those who were killed or injured symptoms of course speak for themselves but how does that answer exactly who was behind this u.s. intelligence cites witness accounts that is hardly

a reliable argument for syria since the beginning of the conflict there almost two and a half years ago each side has accused the other often acquainted charter while covering events from different cities in syria those undercover manto all rebel control i often matt and talk to witnesses from both sides whose accounts contradicted one another the truth was never easy to find even on the ground well it would be chemical weapons were used in syria why does it automatically point to the syrian regime isn't that still to be investigated it all appears to be based on assumptions we still believe that they don't have the capability to use chemical weapons that has not changed again we're looking into the facts on the ground but there's no reason if there's nothing to hide for the regime not to let the investigative team do you know with the u.n. team is a breeding into that who seem assumptions that the opposition doesn't it. to use

these kinds of weapons yes they are. meanwhile major world media are bombarding audiences with low task pictures of dead people including children allegedly killed by chemical agents allegedly used by the syrian regime and all that during the military escalation in the region the pentagon is moving its naval forces close of to syria three destroyers already in the mediterranean ready in for a variety of attacks all of them carrying up to three hundred cruise missiles more scope warns the west against repeating the tragic mistakes of these is remain a scent of events of ten years ago in which he was in false information that the iraqis processed weapons of mass destruction the united states launched a reckless enterprise with consequences that everyone is well aware of russia's foreign minister spokesperson sat well with a small tube colin powell the u.s. secretary of state at that time presented to the un security council as proof led

to disastrous consequences will history repeat itself. marty moscow well at r.t. do you think the preparations for a military response could mean taking part in the vote if you have to so first of all you're telling us forty six percent you believe it's washington trying to destroy public attention away from its own problems at zero. percent from last think the u.s. will go ahead with the attack despite president obama's cautious words the risk of evenly split between believing it's being done to get leverage over the universe to gauge whether it's all just the pentagon's plan b. you can have your say dot com. edward snowden's revelations that the u.s. has been spying on its european allies could have a bearing now on the political race in germany there's an election there in just under a month's time chancellor angela merkel's main rival is promising to freeze trade

talks with the united states until it comes clean on its espionage programs if he's elected more from artie's peter oliver in berlin. what peer steinbrück the head of the leader of the s.t.p. and the only real candidate who has a chance of challenging angle of merkel in the in the upcoming elections what he said is that should he become chancellor well he'll put the brakes on ongoing talks on a a free trade agreement between the u.s. and the e.u. now these are trade talks that have moved at a pretty pace at the best of times and they are potentially worth multiple billions of dollars worth of money to both sides but there are sticking points and it's what he said during an interview on german television was that how can we trust our american allies and colleagues when it comes to talking about the best trade deal for both sides when how do we know they don't have microphones under our desks and they are listening to everything that we are saying they are one of the only few

issues in which the which the opposition can can attack angle of merkel on she remains incredibly personally popular here in germany and is pretty much expected to be to be returned as chancellor but if stonebridge is to get in there and is to have a good chance this is the option what he's what he's gone for because this is one position where angler merkel has. we can go on because she is the chancellor of the book stops with her and it seems that not only did she know that the united states was conducting espionage activities on on german civilians and on german businesses but it seems that at some points according to the leaked documents that edward snowden put forward that the german security services may have actually helped them to do that it's seen in the past these documents coming out. the german security services were very forthcoming with trying to help the n.s.a. in their spying activities so this is

a major issue it's not the major issue going into the election and being the politician he's seeing he sees an element of weakness there and they're rounding on the current chancellor. our correspondent in berlin love you stay with us hello for the world's my news just a couple of minutes time. we'll look at. science technology innovation all the least of elements from around russia we've gone to the future or covered. you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so for life you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture.

choose your language. because we can we know if you're going to say still some of. the it's the consensus here to. choose the opinions but invigorating to. choose the stories that impact your life choose the access to your office. libya's old ones which led to the fall of colonel gadhafi two years ago is still open the country gripped by militia violence is that they squabble over territory and a bigger share of plummeting oil revenue on top of all that the government's trying to revive some of the tactics used by the former regime to keep dissent as a day all the slayer explains. anniversaries are often

a time of celebration for two years on libya has pushes little to be applauding. i'm not sure it will be right to assume that there's a government in libya so there's no army no police and armed militias are in control there's violent chaos the. militia violence stalks the land jihadist groups are growing strikes threaten to cripple the oil industry and economic stagnation is everywhere with all the bad negative things that there are to say about the state those that. control it by force the situation of these device by the countries libya post gadhafi is far from the haiti days of the with illusionary euphoria human rights watch says a wave of assassinations has killed dozens of politicians activists judges and members of security agencies all we hear is very. very troublesome because we hear about clandestine detention centers. detention centers that are run

by militias that are not accountable to anybody these armed militias reportedly have more power than the government turning the country into a new hub for islamic extremism over the past few weeks we knew kind of cancer villages be opened in the south libya is becoming the main base for al qaida in the maghreb we also know that as a direct result of the libyan intervention that the civilian government in bamako. mali was overthrown in the north of the country uncertain islamicist took over creating a humanitarian disaster leading to tens of thousands of internally displaced persons not to mention tens of thousands of refugees fleeing into mauritania linked to burkina faso basically creating a morass and if that's not bad enough the much promised constitution has failed to

materialize politicians are deadlocked over the role of should be a law and but a regional rivalries. libyan society consists of arabs and taboo so the constitution should represent all segments and if any group is ignored then this means exclusion. the berbers who make up ten percent of the population are threatening to take up arms against the government there is a real danger that libya may break up you've had a severe problem in libya with regard to the darker skinned nationals of the south of the country not being except that equal but those who are lighter skinned in the north and the deteriorating economic situation isn't helping commercial banks are closing the drills imposed test against the current on companies in a desperate attempt to keep a good plan things the new government has reportedly using methods that were popular during the duffy's time libya's transitional happening has quietly we

anticipated a piece of pagans technology it inherited from the depths of the sea it uses it to protect the mobile phones and online communication of the deaf to the endless the two machines it seems on the back to front after all except that oil production is down with libya unable to promise crude deliveries next month as an off strikes patronize its major terminals two years on and many are asking was it worth destroying libya to get the spoken state when it's not clear who won it definitely doesn't see. to be the libyan people policy r t tel aviv. in brief tonight the killing three palestinians by israeli border police in the west bank has sparked protests that ended in skirmishes with security forces it's after the deadly shootings routes saw israel troops israeli troops turn up at a refugee camp the rest of terror suspect but they were then attacked with rocks and live rounds palace to be witnesses deny firing at the soldiers the innocent led

palestinian negotiators to temporarily halt the peace talks with israel in washington. in india a rally in support of detaining the nationalists leaders and supporters turned violent after hundreds of protesters clashed with police security forces result of the water cannon and tear gas to disperse the demonstration the protesters were defying a government ban on a pilgrim march a disputed holy site that's been the cause of deadly clashes with muslims. huge wildfire in california the national parks continuing to spread ten days after it started it's forcing people in small mountain communities there to evacuate their homes those flames fanned by high winds and dry conditions are threatening water and power supplies to san francisco to around three thousand firefighters in a dozen helicopters are battling. meantime a completely different situation russia's far east the floods the situation remains bleak yet another rising water levels expected early september because of more heavy rains thousands of people have had to be evacuated to safety as crews battle

the elements but not everyone's abandoning their homes as artie's paul scott found . is a village under threat on the banks of both the ammo and the red river residents wait nervously. record breaking water levels in the region a still rising forcing more and more people from their homes ruining property and livelihoods this lady is a full time carer for her disabled father she says leaving is simply not an option . if i don't live here i live in that neighboring house my garden is underwater i'm here because i take care of my dad life was tough for residents in rural eastern russia even before the floods here father and daughter grow their own potatoes and vegetables but now the land they used to rely on is totally under water various. my garden and chicken coop flooded the water is coming nearer and nearer to the house they are the only residents to remain artie's film crew later

came across this man he's also decided to stay with his submerged property like many scared to leave through fear of looting because that they are with every three hours a report to the emergencies minister the situation is under control we are on guard and we are ready to deal with all variants to the situation as it changes up to ten thousand people can be housed in temporary accommodation centers that have sprung up across the region shelter and supplies are provided along with psychiatric support to help people deal with the fallout from the devastation. that was going use now people are grateful to those who have evacuated them from their homes who have provided everything they need matunga sleep residents worry about the future about the hoons and how they will spend their winter well how about office remains relatively untouched by the flood waters so far that imparts to the fifteen kilometers worth of dimes that have been built around the city in order to keep the

water at bay or florentines ordering it to reach a height of nine metres at the moment in order to contend with the rising flood waters but that is of little comfort to the people in the remote rural regions who sing their lives swept away. sculls how about us. so a lot of trouble to come here after the break cross talking about america's position in today's global economy paid for the team there that in a couple of minutes after the break open sea getting more news. sometimes it seems like in the face of giant corporations people are just sort of helpless i could be pretty pessimistic myself about what a few individuals with no real money or power can really do against the system but

you never dull in fact if you remember tour discussion about ammonia doused pink slime being used across america and frozen fast foods well shift jamie oliver has actually managed to shame mcdonald's enough on t.v. to get them to back down and stop using this ultra processed form of quote meat at their establishments also we recently discussed gamer rage at the rather racist betrayal of russia to the game company of heroes two well all the rage actually worked and thanks to the seventeen thousand signatures on the change dot org petition that game has been pulled from russian shelves by the developer the thing is that massive corporations do a lot of bad things because they have no morals and are obsessed with profit but because they have no morals and are only obsessed with profit the second you even slightly threaten their cash flow they will instantly start cowering at your feet sometimes but that's just my opinion.